Moderator: Welcome to tonight's special event: "Organizing Your Business - Part 4 -- Project Management" with Connie Bechtel
Alan is on the stage.
Connie is on the stage.
Alan: Welcome to tonight's special event.
Alan: Tonight's special event will start with a 30 minute interview, then we will open it up for questions from the audience for the second half hour.
Alan: We have some images to show everyone, via your web browsers. When this happens, be sure to adjust your screen so your web browser is visible to you.
Alan: Throughout the event all questions submitted to the stage, will go to an off screen moderator, to allow for grouping of questions.
Alan: Our guest tonight Connie Bechtel with Wyvern Productions
Alan: Tonight we are going to discuss:
Alan: "Organizing Your Business - Part 4 of our 4 part series on organizing."
Alan: "Project Management, Self management, Intrruptions, Email, Mail"
Alan: Welcome Connie
Connie: Thank you, Alan.
Connie: It's been a pleasure to be here the past few weeks. I hope that I've helped everyone a little. This week, I'll conclude my series with what I consider the most important topic - managing your time.
Connie: A friend of mine once said - You have time to do everything you want to do. It's the things you have to do but don't want to do that you won't find the time for.
Alan: I know I need that one!!!!
Connie: Email, Faxes, Snail Mail
Connie: Allocate time in your schedule to address E-mail, faxes and snail mail. Once mail comes into the office sort it immediately. To Do, To Read , To File , Today, Trash.
Connie: Answer in a timely manner. Either save the in-coming in the appropriate file or delete it. Open bills tossing extra inserts, place the bill in the return envelope and put it in the appropriate "holding area" for your next scheduled bill paying session.
Connie: Forward to the appropriate person when necessary. Do not save the original copy.(Use an auto-file saving setting to save all your out-going E-mails.
Connie: That way you will have a copy for your records. And you will have a copy of all your out-going correspondence.)
Connie: After reading and if there is no action required, yet you need to save the document, file it in the appropriate file.
Connie: Keep documents that need further action in your In "basket" -- when you need additional time to complete an action.
Connie: . For example, you might have documents that are long and you need time to read them thoroughly, you need to record an event on your calendar, or you need to compile additional information before you are ready to respond.
Connie: If you begin responding to an E-mail, yet you do not have time to finish it, save it in your Out "basket." (Remember not to send out all your out-going E-mail if there is an unfinished correspondence in the out "basket."
Connie: ." A trick you can use is to initially address your response to yourself -- that way, if you accidentally send something that is incomplete, it comes to you!)
Connie: If you are feeling inundated by mail or faxes, get off the lists!
Connie: When making any catalog purchases, you must specifically request that your name not be sold or traded. If you forget to do this your name will involuntarily hit approximately 30 mail lists for every order you place - automatically!
Connie: Keep accurate records when placing phone orders. Make sure you log the anticipated delivery date, shipping charges, order number and the name of the person you dealt with.
Connie: Avoid wasting your precious time opening "Junk Mail." Process your mail sorting near the round file, aka the"trash basket."
Connie: Designate a specific time of day to deal with processing your mail. Stick to this time as much as possible throughout the week.
Connie: If you totally detest processing the mail then deal with it at a high energy time. Avoid setting yourself up for failure by designating a time that you have the least amount of interest in concentrating on this task if you find it laborious and tedious.
Connie: If you pick a piece of mail up, be very careful not to put it down in another pile.
Connie: Understand that the primary concept of the Today basket is to segregate all of your priorities for the day from all the others in the To Do basket.
Connie: Decide what is realistically feasible to accomplish in a given day. Whatever you designate in the Today basket is accomplished that day.
Connie: If your basket is not empty at the end of the day, you are probably attempting to do too much and inevitably setting your self up for disappointment and we want to avoid that completely.
Connie: A few last hints for catching up on reading mail:
Connie: Always carry reading material with you. You never know when you may find yourself in a traffic jam or waiting in someone else's office. You can create the time you never seem to have to get "caught up" on your reading.
Connie: Use a highlighter when reading business journals and reports. Also, use the small 3M stick'ems as you come across pertinent material.
Connie: Flag the important page with a stick'em jotting down a one word description on the content for quick retrieval at a later date.
Connie: Self and Project Management
Connie: I am a compulsive scheduler. I schedule everything - except interruptions. This works very well when in a quiet office with no interruptions.
Connie: This does not work well in a storefront or at home where your family and friends can and do interrupt you at any time. On the other hand, it can work to your advantage if used properly.
Connie: Schedule your interruptions. If you are in a store front, evaluate your customer flow. Are you busiest at lunch time and outside of the standard 9-5? Do you come in at 7:00 a.m. and not see a customer until 10:00 a.m.?
Connie: Use the time (in 15 minute increments) to pay bills, organize the day's jobs, file, etc.
Connie: Not a morning person? Lock the shop doors at the scheduled time (no exceptions - does your local mall or automotive store stay open after posted hours?) and do your paperwork then. When the doors are closed, don't answer the phone or the door.
Connie: Running a larger shop with several employees and multiple shifts? A possible way to be available is to a) wear a pager for emergencies only,
Connie: b) schedule certain days where you'll be on-shift for the swing shift times. That way you cover two shifts with the same amount of hours.
Connie: Schedule 10 minute staff meetings with your people on a daily basis. You'll keep up with day to day issues without impacting progress.
Connie: Remember, if a meeting takes over 30 minutes it is taking too long. Take control of the meeting and keep it on target. Your employees will respect you for it.
Connie: We've all had the customers that take FOREVER to make up their minds. Take a cue from your local restaurant server. Leave them with the menu and take care of other tasks at the front of your store while they make a decision.
Connie: On the phone? Your best defense for the long phone calls is an answering machine or voice mail. Keep a telephone message pad and paper next to every phone to capture messages.
Connie: Schedule a time of day that you pull all your messages and respond to all messages promptly. Statistically the best time of day for this is 20 minutes before lunch, and 20 minutes before quitting time.
Connie: Make sure your message includes alternate contact information such as a web site or email. Include your hours and ask the best time to return the call.
Connie: If the return call is for information only, call when you are most likely to get voice mail or an answering machine. Leave all the information requested on the recording.
Connie: In this day and age of constant connectivity, cell phones are the worst possible accessories for the busy business owner. It's great for returning calls, but it also allows for easy interruptions.
Connie: Projects
Connie: Use tools at your disposal to make your job easier. Streamline procedures. Most of you already streamline the embroidery process. When you're running 20 shirts with the same design, do you complete an entire shirt from hooping to bagging?
Connie: Can you do 400 shirts in one day on a single head machine? Can you digitize 15 detailed designs on your busiest day? Of course not.
Connie: You know your limitations. Treat your office procedures the same way. Always plan for a worst case scenario. Use a calendar system and schedule ALL deadlines. Mark when your taxes, insurance, and bill payments are due.
Connie: Modify forms to suit your needs. By writing down what you use for each customer you can create forms that are specific to your business.
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Connie: Before buying software that does "all the work for you" ask yourself if it will be as cost effective as making a few customized forms. The answer may be yes, but many times it is no.
Alan: For everyone to see the image, you will need to bring your browser to the front of side of this screen. The images will appear in your browser
Connie: Avoid unnecessary conversation with your customers. Include instructions for your customers on how to care for their garment.
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Connie: Include a disclaimer on your web site and on your in-house paperwork that describes your sales and replacement policy. All of this saves the time it would take explaining your policies (for most customers).
Connie: Have standard letters and automatic email responses for web orders.
Connie: Schedule personal time first. No matter how "swamped" your business is, always make time for your spouse, children, parents, etc. and most of all, for yourself. You work more efficiently with a good night's rest.
Connie: Schedule time for yourself daily to work on important priority projects so they won't become urgent due to time constraints. You can also use this time to work on something that will bring you closer to a long-range goal.
Connie: Operate from only one calendar system! Combine business, office, and personal calendars to ensure you are not over booking yourself! Plan as far in advance as possible.
Connie: Make sure you have a clock in your office to aid you in monitoring your time and avoid running late. This will aid you in maintaining a conscious awareness of exactly how long you are doing a particular task.
Connie: Statistically there are times you do and do not want to be at certain places in order to make the most of your time running errands.
Connie: For example: never go to the bank between 11:30 - 1:30 and on a Monday or Friday. See your doctor and hair stylist first thing in the morning to avoid delays.
Connie: Take the lead from Scotty, the engineer from Star Trek - schedule approximately 25% more time for each task that you believe it will take.
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Connie: Don't fill all your time slots, write everything down, plan ahead as much as possible, confirm appointments before leaving, use cancelled timeslots for items you've not been able to get to otherwise.
Connie: I've put together a list of suggested reading for the topics I've covered over the past few weeks. It's on your browser now.
Connie: Feel free to bookmark it and return often. Then check out your local library for these books and more.
Connie: Any questions?
Moderator: Audience member says: "Could you use an "IN", "PENDING and "OUT" for your email?"
Connie: If that works for you and you don't get too many items in the pending folder, sure.
Moderator: Audience member says: "How long should you keep general correspondence, I've got 8 filing cabinets full!"
Connie: I purge every year. Put them in boxes and store them.
Connie: Review as you purge to determine if it's really necessary - and be harsh!
Moderator: Audience member says: "Yeah, but the warehouse if full of my "old correspondence" in boxes too!"
Connie: I'll bet 80% of that is no longer necessary.
Connie: There are certain business papers like taxes that need to be kept, but not everything
Moderator: Audience member says: "yeah, but taking the time to wade through all the old stuff, just isn't in the schedule"
Connie: Do a little each day. I've been gradually clearing out college papers from...well, a while ago.
Connie: It's worth it in the long run.
Moderator: Audience member says: "Thanks for the reading list, but now I'll have to find the time to read?"
Moderator: Audience member says: "any priority order on the readings?"
Connie: Choose carefully, and remember - you can do anything for 15 minutes.
Moderator: Audience member says: "yeah, but 15 minutes ain't going to cut it"
Moderator: Audience member says: "many of my tasks are a lot greater than 15 minutes worth, even if I break them down"
Moderator: Audience member says: "so do I schedule the time I think it will take?"
Connie: You don't have to complete the filing, reading, decluttering, etc. in a day. By portioning it into time that you actually have (more)
Connie: you can finish the job in a few days, weeks or even months as long as you keep at it.
Connie: And it doesn't impact the business as much as taking the hours in one sitting would.
Connie: For years, I looked at the big picture of organizing and accomplished nothing.
Connie: When I started taking everything in small pieces, it all is falling together.
Moderator: Audience member says: "what book would you recommend I start with?"
Connie: What bothers you the most?
Connie: If it's your desk, start there.
Connie: Or choose a file drawer and organize one client each day.
Connie: Only you can decide where to begin, the challenge is to bite the bullet and keep going once you've started.
Moderator: Audience member says: "All of this makes perfect sense. I have even tried some of it. My problem is falling into old habits. How do you keep from doing that?"
Connie: We all "fall off the wagon" for many reasons.
Connie: I just start where ever I'm at and keep pushing.
Connie: Put your chores on your calendar.
Connie: They're as much of a TO DO as the current shirt run or client appointment.
Moderator: Audience member says: "But wounce you get it togehter how do you keep it that way"
Connie: I highly recommend flylady.com for that kick in the pants to get started. Her information works at home or at the office.
Connie: Never browbeat yourself for letting something go.
Connie: But - once you make it part of your routine, you'll feel out of place when you do fall out of step.
Connie: To keep track of record keeping and destruction, try this list - http://www.williamskeepers.com/tools_for_you/record_retention.asp
Connie: It's also in the second session of the Latte's talks.
Alan: any more questions for Connie.... our organizational guru?
Alan: Connie, organization is a hard, hard thing for some people to master.
Connie: Myself included.
Alan: We appreciate your time and comments to help lead us to the water
Alan: but we have to now learn to drink
Connie: It's like dieting - it's nice to know other people that are in the same boat and can support you.
Alan: Thank you for your time that you put into this for us all.
Connie: My pleasure. I hope it is encouraging to everyone.
Alan: Well that about wraps up this series.
Alan: But now we have to do what Connie said, and actually put it into practice
Alan: If you would like to contact Connie,
her email is:
Alan: admin@wyvernproductions.com
Alan: Or through her website at:
Alan: http://www.wyvernproductions.com
Alan: Connie, thanks for being with us these last 4 weeks
Alan: That is the conclusion of tonight's event, a transcript will be posted to the Embroidery Industry Calendar within the hour.
Alan: Be sure to check the Chat Schedule for next week's topic.
Alan: Thank you for your support of the EmbroideryMall.
Alan: Now everyone back to Latte's
The PalacePresents event ""Organizing Your Business - Part 4 -- Project Management"" is over.
Thank you for attendin

Closing Log (May 4, 2004 10:30:39PM)

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